What to do when one of your staff is not buying in to training

We cannot train someone who is not willing to learn. When I teach leadership topics, there is nothing worse than having someone in the room with their arms crossed and their attitude on. Whether they were forced to come, or they think they know better than me, having someone like that in the room is a drain on everyone’s energy. With a room full of people and the clock running, I simply can’t take the time to deal with that person one-on-one to figure out what the issue is.

Leadership trainer Linton Sellen says that the purpose of training is to train people not to motivate them. If you have a motivation issue when you are training, you need to stop the training and deal with the motivation issue. Otherwise, the training is a waste of time.

The important points here:

• If you offer group training, give the trainer the authority to ask unwilling participants to leave the room (and encourage them to do so). This will prevent the training from being ruined for others by that one person who has not bought in.
• If you are training someone one-on-one and they are rolling their eyes or showing other signs of disinterest or cynicism, stop the training and deal with the attitude issue head-on before going any further.

Training is a powerful tool for engaging people. When we offer training and development to someone who wants it in an area of interest for them, we get powerful engagement and effective learning and development. It is important not to let one bad apple screw that up for those who are there to learn. And it’s important not to waste your time trying to train someone who is not ready to learn.